]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2014/08/05/60-years-of-netarhat-lessons-for-inclusive-quality-schooling/feed/0Rat Farming- An opportunity for food securityhttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2014/06/03/rat-farming-an-opportunity-for-food-security/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2014/06/03/rat-farming-an-opportunity-for-food-security/#respondMon, 02 Jun 2014 23:14:07 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=391 India has brought an Act on Food Security which basically aims at providing food and nutritional security based on human life cycle approach by ensuring access to adequate amount of quality food at affordable prices and also to provide supplementary nutrition to children from 6 months to 14 years through Integrated Child Development Scheme and mid day meal scheme. It makes provision for providing 5 kg of food grains at a subsidized rate. Rice is to be provided at the rate of Rs 3 per Kg, wheat at Rs 2per Kg and coarse grains at Rs 1 per Kg. It also makes provision of a free meal in terms of well defined security of calorie and protein. The bill is a land mark step towards fight against hunger and malnutrition. But do we have enough preparation for meeting the requirement of foodgrains and protein. In this article we shall examine the role of Rat farming in providing conservation of foodgrains and supplying cheaper source of protein.

Rats are a great companion of human beings. We can seldom find a place of human habitation where rats can not be found. Rat meat has been a popular food in a large section of society since time immemorial. But people have hunted rats for eating. The rats living in houses are generally not eaten. On the other hand, a large section of people have considered rats as pests and have tried to find ways of killing them. There is a common misconception that only communities like Musahars (the name itself indicates that they are rat hunters, rat eaters, or rat food eaters as they procure food grains stored by rats). This is not true. Rat meat is a popular food among non-vegetarian farmers and farm labours of many communities. When the crops of paddy or wheat are harvested and the field is empty Musahars go for hunting of rats and also try to dig out the food stored by them. The rats so caught are roasted, cooked and served to all those who want to eat.

I got an opportunity to watch the hunting process in a small hamlet near Naubatpur about 25 kms away from Patna. I was told that hunting of rats is done in three ways:

Flooding (When water is poured in the holes so that the rats try to come out of the holes where they are caught with indigenous equipments or even by hand)

Smoking (When smokes are sent in the holes so that the rats get out of hole and picked up at the opening of the hole)

Trapping (When certain items such as onion covers are put near the holes and when rats are attracted towards it they are trapped into a trap)

Rats prepare a very elaborate structure of holes with intricate interlinked architecture. Normally they dig three parallel holes- one for themselves, one for the storage for food grains and one for movement so that they can move out in moments of crisis. Often snakes move into the holes prepared by the rats. So they take due precaution from before to meet this crisis. Musahars are quite apt in finding out whether any hole has rats or snakes. They can read their presence merely by looking at the imprints of their movement near the opening of the holes.

The method of cooking rats was also hygienic. The rat was hunted from the field. It was roasted to remove the hair. Then pieces were chopped off and cooked like goat meat. It was served with rice. My wife Mridula and I also tasted the meat. We found the meat to be quite tasty.

When an organized hunting is done in open fields, sometimes a feast is organized in the field itself. Rat meat is also sold in local villages. The demand is so high that when a person hunts rats and brings back to village it is often purchased by someone midway. The rat meat cuisine is also serves in way side hotels of Mokama, about eighty kilometers away from Patna in the name of Patal Bageri. Sometimes it is sold in rural hats also. Sale price of rat meat is Rs 100 to 110 per Kg.

The process of hunting rats was quite cumbersome. Seeing the enthusiasm of the community a simple idea comes to mind as to what can be done to make a steady supply of rat meat to the community. But before something could be thought of, it is important to learn whether rat meat is worth eating. Is it good for health? I looked for the food values of different common meat and eggs. Here is the result

Nutrition value

Field rats

Egg

Fowl

Goat

Mutton

Pork

Pigeon

110

140

300

Protein (gm)

23.6

13

25.9

21.4

18.5

18.7

23.3

Fat (gm)

1

13

0.6

3.6

13.3

4.4

4.9

Mineral(gm)

1.4

1

1.3

1.1

1.3

1

1.4

Fibre(gm)

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Carbohydrates (gm)

0.1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Energy(Kcal)

104

173

109

118

194

114

137

Calcium(mg)

30

60

25

12

150

30

12

Phosphorus(mg)

242

220

245

193

150

200

290

Iron(mg)

0

2.1

0

0

2.5

2.2

0

(Source: Nutritive value of Common foods: National Institute of Nutrition)

Clearly rats have high protein and compete very well with chicken. In fact, with low fat level it is good for old and weak.

We also tried to explore whether it is harmful to eat rat meat. There is some misconception that rats and rat meat cause some disease. In fact, there does not seem to be any evidence that it is harmful for humans to eat rat meat. It is as good or bad as any other meat. The precautions that are needed in eating other non-vegetarian foods is required to be taken in the case of rat meat also. It is surprising that people, who oppose rat meat forget that despite knowing that avian flu or bird flu in chicken having possibility of transmission to humans chicken has not been removed from food list. Rat meat has not been proscribed from human consumption.

Rat meat is popular food in many communities in different parts of India. In North Eastern Indian states hunted wild rats sold are sold in wayside shops.

International Experience

Using rats as a food source draws either disgust or amusement from many, but eating rat meat has a long history. Rat meat is a popular cuisine in many countries. Bush meat is a popular form of meat in African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. It is estimated that about half of the meat markets in some parts of Ghana is bush meat. Bush meat is basically Cane rat meat.

In an important study Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu writes in Wildlife and food security in Africa, FAO CONSERVATION GUIDE

“A number of studies on the nutritional value of wild animal meat indicate that bushmeat is comparable if not better than domestic meat. The general trend is that the meat of most wild animal species tends to be low in fat, while equal or better than beef, mutton, chicken or pork in protein content and much higher in vitamin content. Apart from the large game species, nutritional studies on wild animals have been carried out for “non-conventional” species such as rodents, insects and snails. Nutritional studies of rodents used as food in the Zambezian woodland gave average protein content of 24% (fresh weight); fat content of 2.816.8% and ash consent of % for twelve species (Malaise and Parent 1982). Based on these results, the authors concluded that the nutritive value of rodents places them on the same level as beef and chicken.”

In Thailand, fast-food vendors are selling rat food -poached, fried, grilled or baked. They claim they are tastier than other meats and are healthy because they come from rice fields.

In Cambodia, spicy rat dishes are quite popular as it is cheaper than other forms of meats. A kilogram of rat meat now sells for around 5,000 riel (US $1.22) as opposed to beef which goes for 20,000 riel (US $4.88) a kilo. Children hunt rats from farms and forests and make money by selling it after preserving some for family. It is also sent to Vietnam from Combodia as there is a demand for the meat there. Cambodians have found it easier to catch rats as the rodents flee flooding in the Mekong Delta. It is estimated that about a tone of live rats are exported to Vietnam from Combodia every day.

In some countries steps have also been taken to develop rat farms to properly manage their production and steady supply. Rats are being actively farmed and processed for food in countries as culturally diverse as Nigeria and Cambodia. Researches in developing techniques for breeding cane rats in captivity is continuing at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria since 1973. It has been so successful, commercial large-scale rat farming is growing in Southern Nigeria. There cane rats are seen as a high-profit, low-stress animal to farm. It is considered as more assuring than the poultry business which can bring fortune in a day, but could also bring unexpected crisis leading to serious financial crisis.

A cane rat breeding station was set up in Benin in the mid-1980s – the Benin-Germany Cane Rat Breeding Project -with support from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The station aims to develop cane rat breeding techniques for the production of meat, and to propagate a domesticated breed. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has produced guidelines and a paper on the proper care and raising of cane rats for food production. It is based on experiments conducted in the 1980s in Benin.

The meat of the cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), a wild rodent, is greatly appreciated in western and central Africa. A cane rat breeding station was set up in Benin in the mid-1980s – the Benin-Germany Cane Rat Breeding Project -with support from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The station aimed at developing cane rat breeding techniques for the production of meat, and to propagate a domesticated breed.

Rats are seen as a big nuisance in farms and food-grain stores. In the farm the rats store upto Kilograms of grains in their holes. In fact, Musahars dig these holes and collect the food grains. In rural Bihar the farmers take half the share of the food grains recovered from the rat holes. The foodgrain destroyed by rats is estimated to range from 4-5% to 30% of the total foodgrains. If rat meat is promoted, it would not only be a cheap source of protein it would also help in conserving the food grains destroyed by them. In fact, then it would not be seen as pests but would become pets.

In the season of flowering of bamboo which takes place at the periodicity of about half a century, the population of rats suddenly becomes very high. This is because the bamboo seeds are quite rich in protein and cause high fertility in rats. After the flowering season is over these rats turn to fields and cause severe damage to crops so much so that it brings famine to the area. This famine called Mautam (meaning sorrow) is so severe that in 2006, Army had to be called to contain the crisis. In fact, the government gives cash incentives to kill rats in some north eastern states.

Social Impact

Promotion of rat meat can have great impact on social life. Food habits are one of the main factors untouchability. If rat meat is accepted as common food, it would help in bridging the gaps between different communities and would pave way for removal of untouchability. Promotion for tolerance for food can be a major step for social inclusion. As rat meat is comparatively cheaper source of protein, it can become an important part of their food can create impact on their nutrition status.

It would be interesting to note that the literacy rate of Musahar community in Bihar has moved from 2.1% in 1961 to 9% in 2001. Why is it so? Despite giving equal treatment this community has not developed. It has been seen that the communities, whose skills have been commercialized have also developed, mutually, on other socio-economic parameters. Even among Scheduled castes communities such as Chamar, who are engaged in dirty works like dealing in animal skins have developed at a much faster rate as the leather related works and industries developed in the country. On the other hand Musahar community which has the traditional skill of rat hunting has not improved as their skill has not been recognized and commercialized. If we commercialize rat farming, it would definitely have great impact on the poverty alleviation particularly of the communities which are engaged in rat hunting.

Literacy rate of SC in Bihar (Census of India 2001)

CASTE

P_lit_rate

M_lit_rate

F_lit_rate

All SCs

28.5%

40.2%

15.6%

Bantar

18.6%

29.4%

7.0%

Bauri

52.3%

66.3%

37.4%

Bhogta

19.5%

28.9%

8.7%

Bhuiya

13.3%

19.6%

6.5%

Bhumij

33.0%

45.6%

19.8%

Chamar etc.

32.1%

46.2%

16.8%

Chaupal

22.6%

34.9%

9.3%

Dabgar

46.7%

61.5%

31.4%

Dhobi

43.9%

58.6%

27.9%

Dom etc.

16.2%

23.4%

8.2%

Dusadh etc.

33.0%

46.1%

18.5%

Ghasi

35.2%

47.2%

20.4%

Halalkhor

44.7%

59.4%

28.7%

Hari etc.

39.3%

51.9%

25.5%

Kanjar

18.8%

26.1%

10.6%

Kurariar

22.6%

33.9%

10.7%

Lalbegi

31.6%

48.3%

12.1%

Musahar

9.0%

13.7%

3.9%

Nat

22.4%

30.5%

13.7%

Pan etc.

58.7%

71.9%

43.5%

Pasi

40.6%

54.5%

25.3%

Rajwar

22.4%

34.2%

9.7%

Turi

18.8%

28.3%

8.4%

Generic Castes etc.

35.1%

47.0%

21.1%

Source: Census of India, 2001

Popularisation of rat meat would also have impact on social cohesion. One of the main reason for the evil practice in society is non acceptance of diverse food eaten by different community. Tolerance for different types of foods would pave the way for a more cohesive and democratic society.

Rat farming and Food Crisis

There is another angle to it also. The global food crisis continues to fuel food price inflation and send many into hunger and despair. Growing prices has particularly affected poor in terms of their access to protein. Around the world, solutions are being sought to the urgent need for more and cheaper food. Right now there are 862 million undernourished people around the world (FAO), and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for food production to increase 50 percent by 2030 just to meet rising demand.

ICMR has recommended 60g of protein per day for an adult of 60 kg body weight. This requirement of protein can be met by vegetative sources (a mixture of pulses) or by animal products like milk, meat, fish or eggs. Pulses are one of the major source of protein. Per capita domestic production of pulses in India has dropped from 63g in 1951 to 36g in 2008. This has led to a steep increase in their price also. This has made it totally out of reach from poor people.

This situation demands effective utilization of diverse protein resources including meat. In addition, animal proteins have high biological value and well balanced amino acid composition as compared to vegetative sources. Average man needs a minimum of 125 g meat or meat equivalent food per day to replace the protein lost through catabolic processes and to maintain the nitrogen balance of the body. It has been reported that diets containing on an average less than 15g animal protein per day would lead to protein malnutrition. Thus a target of at least 20g animal protein/day (world average 24.88g) would be reasonable for Indians where the diets are predominantly vegetarian, and a mixture of proteins from cereals and pulses are consumed along with animal protein in the form of milk, meat, fish and eggs.

It has also been seen that, with the growth in economy, people have more money to spend on food and eventually, the consumption of meat products go up. In India, with the growth of middle class, the consumption of meat has also gone up. Assuming that 4g animal protein/person/day comes from meat sources, then for the 70% non-vegetarian population of the country, the requirement of meat is about 6 million tonnes as compared to the total current meat production estimate of about 4.8 million tonnes (2011-12) .

Therefore, measures should be taken for increasing the meat production to reduce the gap between requirement and availability. If the reduction of gap is not possible through traditional sources of meat then non-conventional sources of meat may be explored for the purpose.

Broaden food spectrum

As the availability of protein from present popular sources decline, we have to explore new sources. There is a need to broaden the food spectrum to include both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food so as to meet this food or more specifically protein crisis. As the price of poultry, cows, sheep, pigs and seafood rises, rodents are coming more and more into the picture, in particular, rats. For example, in Africa, farming the cane rat is seen as a better option than chickens, because they are easier to care for.

Rats are also eaten by dogs, cats; snakes and other animals. These animals are also kept as pets. There appears to be a great potential for marketing of rat meat for pet cats and dogs. If these requirements are met from rat meat, it would have impact on the meat availability and prices for human consumption.

Right to grow food

Every society or community has liking for certain types of food. This is determined by their socio economic settings and cultural traditions. It is important to respect such likings. It is also equally important to note that it is the right of every community or group to work for sustained supply of food liked by them. In fact, right to food has an inherent component of right to grow food.

Rat Meat idea by world community

Let us also see how rat meat idea has been received by the world community. DENNIS T. AVERY, Senior fellow for the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC and Director for the Center for Global Food Issues writes in his column

“The best non-science solution I’ve heard is from Vijoy(sis) Prakash, Secretary of Welfare in India’s Bihar state. Prakash says we should eat rats. Then the rats won’t eat the stored grain, and the people will get more high-quality protein. He is promoting rat meat in the villages—and talking with hotels about rat meat on their menus. It’s at least more realistic than expecting humans to become vegetarian.”

American Chroniclehas recognized the news of rat recipes of Bihar as one of the best five lessons learnt in the month of August 2008.

The news regarding rat farming has been published in thousands of newspapers and radio and TV reports including BBC News & VOA and the idea is being debated on several blogs and magazines.

Some people oppose rat meat popularization on the ground that it would lead Musahars back to the age of rat hunting and they would never grow. This is a total misconception. Firstly, rat farming is different from rat hunting. It is organized farming just like poultry, piggery and other farming practices related to different animals. Secondly, it is not related to any community. At hunting stage one community may specialize in hunting. But as the technology related to rat farming stabilizes more and more people of all community would join in.

It could be known from Musahar community that the meat of wild rats is very delicious, palatable and acceptable too. Unavailability of meat resources in present-day market may lead to acceptance of the rat meat like chicken among the meat connoisseurs and this food habit of Musahar Community will be brought to the main stream.

Thus, there is a good case to work on production and management of wild rats in the laboratory condition, thereafter upscale its large scale production at the farmers level.

Way ahead

Rat meat production is in hunting phase. People hunt rats from the field and then eat. Rats are not reared. So they are not available with regularity. They are available when they are hunted. Further, people have to work extremely hard to get the rat meat. Rat hunting is quite time consuming and may not be that rewarding. Therefore, the method of rearing rats has to be developed so that rats become available on regular basis. Only after the rearing process has stabilized we can go for marketing of rat meat. Rat is reared as pets and also for laboratory purposes. So there should not be much difficulty in developing a proper method of rearing rats on large scale for production of meat. Some of the rats such as cane rats are of 3-4 Kgs. In fact, gradually the hybrid rats may also be developed.

We are in a very difficult phase of human development. As per FAOs assessment food production has to be doubled by 2040. In 20th century the food production was enhanced by introduction of developed technology, use of hybrid seeds, fertilizers, developed system of irrigation and proper land reforms. But this time we have reached at the threshold of technological advancement and much cannot be expected on that front. Hence, we have to put more emphasis on food conservation and diversification. In this context rat farming stands to be given due consideration for being developed as an additional source of food for it would not only add to the present food repertory but would also help in conserving the existing food reserve. It can be an important step towards providing food security.

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2014/06/03/rat-farming-an-opportunity-for-food-security/feed/0Broadstreaming, not Mainstreaminghttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2010/01/31/broadstreaming-not-mainstreaming/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2010/01/31/broadstreaming-not-mainstreaming/#commentsSun, 31 Jan 2010 09:43:58 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=378‘Broadstreaming, not Mainstreaming’ – An Approach towards Solutions for Inclusive Development was delivered at XLRI, Jamshedpur as inaugural address in the conference on ‘Solutions to Inclusive Development’ on January 29, 2010.

Creative Knowledge was released on the occasion of inaugration of Ritu Sinha Knowledge Centre for Creative Learning at School of Creative Learning on December 27, 2009. Visit Picasaweb RSKCCL for RSKCCL Inaugration pictures.

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2010/01/16/creative-knowledge/feed/0How to start a game?http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/05/15/how-to-start-a-game/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/05/15/how-to-start-a-game/#respondFri, 15 May 2009 06:41:46 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=364Creative Learning requires development of activities in the form of games. In order to organise these activities, we should adopt the prevalent methods of collecting players, choosing leaders, making pairs or teams, etc. We shall first discuss the general principles involved in these activities.

Collecting Players

Before starting a game, the first task is to collect players. Two or three children decide as to which game is to be played. Then they join hands and go on chanting in loud voice by shaking joined hands up and down.

We want to play Queenie, Queenie.

We want to play Queenie, Queenie

Who wants to play Queenie, Queenie.

Who wants to play Queenie, Queenie.

Or

Come and join, come and join.

Join the ring, join the ring.

(Replace Queenie, Queenie by the name of the game played).

On hearing the chanting the children interested in playing “Queenie, Queenie” join hands and start chanting. This way the voice becomes louder and louder. The process continues till the required number of children have given consent to play the game.

Team Formation

Generally teams are formed in various games. It can be done in the following ways.

Let children stand in a row in ascending or descending order of heights. The game organizer (Teacher or one of the players) asks each child to call out 1 and 2 one by one. The person calling 2 is then asked to take a step forward. In this way two groups are automatically formed. They can be given any name as per the choice of the group.

The children divide themselves into pairs, go out of the sight and keep secret names. They can keep names after fruits, vegetables, towns, villages, etc. Only one pair stays back. It is called the leading pair. Now after keeping their secret names they come to the leading pair joining their hands and chant.

We have grapes and oranges.

What do you want?

What do you want?

Then one member of the leading pair in turn gives his/her choice. If he/she chooses grapes, then the person having his/her secret name ‘grapes’ goes in his/her team and other person ‘orange’ goes in other team. Similarly if the pair has kept their name after the names of cities they will come and call out.

We have come from Ranchi & Lucknow.

Whom do you want?

Whom do you want?

The members of leading pair exercise their options alternatively and the team is formed. If in the end one person remains unpaired because he/she could not form pair with anyone, he/she goes to a distance and raises his/her hands with one hand ‘open’ and the other ‘ clenched fisted’. The child always has his/her back towards the leading pair. Now one of the members of the leading pair secretly chooses either ‘open’ or ‘clenched fist’ and calls out loudly ‘drop’. The child raising his/her hands then drops one of the hands. If the dropped hand has clenched fist, then the member of the leading pair exercising his/her option as ‘clenched fist’ gets the child in his/her team.

Choosing a Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser

Often in many games one child has to perform different tasks from that of the others. He/she may be called Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser etc. Depending upon the nature of the game children should choose them in an interesting way. Some of the ways choosing them are illustrated below.

Choose a colour

One player goes out of hearing. The rest pick colours for themselves. One colour is allotted to the player who goes away. When the child comes back, he is asked to choose one of the colours by chanting in chorus.

Colour, Colour, Which colour do you want?

The child names a colour. The player picking out that colour becomes the Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser. This method can be suitably adapted by names of great men, vegetables, fruits, fishes, cities etc. Then replace the word ‘colour’ by men/vegetables/fruits/fishes/cities in the chant.

Odd man out

Children should stand in a circle facing inwards with their hands behind their back and chant.

All in the middle and odd man’s out

or

Ding dang dong

Or

Zing zag zag

On the word out/dong/zag they should whip their hands from behind holding them in front of all to see with their right palms either up or down on their left hand. They then look around to see if one player is ‘odd’ that is to say one player holding his/her palm one way and the rest of the players holding differently. Then the odd player becomes the Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser.

If no one is found to be ‘odd’ the players do the exercise again. If there are more players then the likelihood of one player being odd is increased by introducing finger positions along with the up and down palm positions i.e. closed fist or two or three fingers up or down.

Dipping

Players stand up in a line or in a circle and count along the line the number of counts being prescribed by the accented syllables of some little rhymes such as the following.

Err’ie, orr’ie round’ the ta’ble,

Eat as much’ as you’ are a’ble;

If you’re a’ble eat’ the ta’ble,

Err’ie orr’ie, out!

One child gabbles the words at speed pointing briefly at each player one by one. If the number of players is less than fifteen, continue counting round the circle or along the line a second time counting himself first. The person on whom the last count falls becomes the Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser

Instead of the above rhyme the following dips may also be used.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, YOU

One, two, sky blue,

All out but you.

Red white and blue,

All out but you.

Inky, pinky, ponky

My daddy brought a donkey

The donkey died,

Daddy cried;

Inky, pinky, ponky

Red, white and blue

The cat’s got the flu

The baby has the whooping cough

And out goes you

Iggy oggy

Black Froggy

Iggy oggy out

Ickle ockle

Chocolate bottle

Iccle occle out

Iddy oddy

Dogs body

Iddy oddy out

Ibble obble

Black bubble

Ibble obble out

Eettle ottle

Black bottle

Eettle ottle out

Ingle angle

Golden bangle

Ingle angle out

Countingfist

Children stand in a circle with face inwards and hold out their clenched fist, thumbs up. One child called dipper, tabs each fist in turn counting as he does so

One’ potato, two’ potatoes

Three potatoes four

Five potatoes, Six potatoes

Seven potatoes more.

The dipper includes his fist also by banging his right fist on his left fist and his left fist on his right fist. The fist on which he pronounces ‘more’ he bangs hand more forcefully than he does on the others. The player then puts his fist behind his back. The dipper goes on counting round and round eliminating further fists. The player whose both fists are knocked down is declared ‘out’. The count continues till only one player is left holding up a fist. That player is declared the Leader/Queenie /Searcher/Chaser.

Participation

When children grow older, they can clearly anticipate the number of words in the dips given above and they can manipulate dips. Hence with older children participation dips should be used. These take the form of a question

My mother made a nice seedy cake

Guess how many seeds were there in the cake?

The player reached with the word ‘cake’ gives any number he likes and the dipper continues for that number of counts and then starts the counts on the spelling of the number. For example if the player has given the number ‘eight’ the dipper will count

One two three four

Five six seven eight

E-I-G-H-T

Spells eight

So out are you.

The player pointed with ‘you’ becomes Leader/Queenie/Searcher/Chaser.

Similarly other participation dips are

Dic – dic – tation

cor – por – ation

how many buses

are in the station?

Engine engine on the line

Releasing smoke all the time

How many cc does it release?

My mother bought me a nice new dress

What colour do you guess?

(~ Green)

G-R-E-E-N

Was the colour of the dress

So out are you.

Micky mouse bought a house

What colour did he paint it?

Shut your eye and think

(~ R-E-D)

And you must go for saying so

With a clip across your ear hole

Winter garden full of flowers

Which flower do you choose?

(~ Rose)

R-O-S-E

Spells rose

so out are you.

Eachie, peachie, pear, plum

When does your birthday come?

(Eighteenth January)

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,

J-A-N-U-A-R-Y

So out are you

Making Pairs or Groups

Many games and activities are conducted in pairs. Pairs can also be formed in interesting ways as given below.

Some pictures are collected from calendars, greeting cards, invitation cards, photographs, newspaper pictures, etc. They are torn into two parts. All cards are then mixed together and kept in a basket or on a table. Each player is then asked to pick up a card from the basket. Then they are asked to find their partners. Each player goes to the other player and asks,

“Show me your card.” He/She then compares the card of the player with his/her own card. If two cards are found to be parts of the same picture, they join hands and say loudly “We are partners.”

Instead of tearing the same picture into two parts two similar sets of pictures may also be collected and mixed.

If pictures or cards are not available, similar paper pieces or railway tickets are taken and same letter is written on two pieces of paper or tickets. This way different letters are written on different pairs of pieces or tickets and mixed together. Similarly names of animals, fruits, vegetables, opposites (king-queen, boy-girl, etc.) can also be written on the slips.

If groups of three or four players are to be formed, similar activity can be designed with three or four slips or cards having identical picture or words.

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/05/15/how-to-start-a-game/feed/0Read stories from the first dayhttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/22/read-stories-from-the-first-day/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/22/read-stories-from-the-first-day/#respondWed, 22 Apr 2009 21:09:40 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=358(Excerpt from the book Creative Learning by Vijoy Prakash)

One of the interesting findings of researches on learning is that the child should be exposed to reading books from quite early in life. This process should start as early as possible without even waiting for the child to show responses to the stimuli. Now it is also being suggested that a child should be read a story or shown pictorial stories right from his/her birth, when he/she returns from the hospital. It may appear that the child is not responding to the story or is not looking at the storybook, but gradually, it would be realised that the faculty of reception sharpens. It has been found that if a child is read a storybook right from birth, he/she may start reading the book right from the age of 3-4 years.

Similarly, if a child is exposed to songs, tunes and rhythms right from birth, s/he becomes more receptive to the rhythmic tunes. If a child were shown more and more pictures from early childhood, his/her spatial intelligence would be more developed in comparison to the child who is not shown any such pictures. Since information is received through sensory organs, all sensory organs should be fully developed to receive information. Hence, games and activities must be designed for developing all sensory organs in early childhood.

Grandma’s TechniquesMany children show great reluctance in eating. There is an age-old tradition to make various designs of ‘rotis’ (breads) for children. Some breads will look like animals, for example, goat, or birds like parrot, or in some geometrical designs. These designs are not only suited to the temperament of the child to facilitate eating, it also makes them learn about various animals, birds, geometrical designs, etc.. Even if the child may be reluctant to eat, he eats the bread, when it is presented in the form of some geometrical design. Many parents further facilitate eating by linking the design to some story. For example, they may narrate a story of a bird and present the bread in the form of the bird to the child.

Dining time is another great occasion for learning. Dining together in a family situation is helpful not only in binding the family together, it helps in understanding likes and dislikes of family members also. It is also useful in effecting emotional closeness among family members.

Traditionally, mother and grandmother used to remain present during dining time of the children and other persons, even if they were not dining themselves. This was helpful in showing concern for the family members.

Dining time interactions can be an extremely useful period for learning. This period could be used for

• Learning the experiences of the children during the day in the school and outside.
• Telling the experience of parents during the day.
• Telling the history of the family and the village.
• Discussion on the problems encountered during the day by different members of the family and possible solutions thereof
• Story/puzzle/jokes telling session by children/parents
• Discussion on any news items or important events of the day.

Develop taste sense during Dining

Dining is a big occasion, when taste sense can be easily developed. Young children may be asked to keep their eyes closed. Sweets or juice may be placed on their tongue and they should be asked to identify the object. Gradually, they should identify the constituents of two or three fruits taken together or items of mixed salad or even spice of curry. They can gradually develop the habit of identification of the concentration of sugar or fruit solution. Who knows this process may make him a scientist or a tea or wine taster of high calibre.

Start learning in Kitchen

Elementary learning should have heavy inputs from home and kitchen. Since the learner continuously interacts with the physical environment at home, contents of learning should be picked up from house and kitchen items. One of the fundamental principles of creative learning is to ignite the process of creativity from the items that the learner interacts during his/her day- to-day activities.

James watt could invent the steam engine by watching the power of steam coming out of a kettle. Newton learnt about the Laws of Gravitation in a garden. Learners can develop basic competencies while sitting in the lap of mother in the kitchen.

Often teachers/parents appreciate the importance of learning in kitchen, but they don’t have the idea as to how kitchen activities can be linked with learning. Some of the ideas useful in this context are :

Learner can learn the “Principle of Cause & Effect” by observing the effect of
• Heating
• Mixing water with various solid items i.e. sugar, salt, flour

Learner can be initiated into the principles of scientific reasoning by asking them to explain various processes.
• Why does bread soil on heating?
• Why does rice soften on boiling?
• Why is a lid put on the pressure cooker?
• Why cooked food rots but raw cereals do not?

Let’s remember that

Kitchen is the best laboratory

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/22/dining-time-interaction/feed/0Interact with children during bedtimehttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/interact-with-children-during-bedtime/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/interact-with-children-during-bedtime/#respondSun, 19 Apr 2009 09:40:14 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=352(Excerpt from the book Creative Learning by Vijoy Prakash)

When young infants go to bed, they expect their parents to be with them. This is a good occasion to interact with them. It has been seen that songs and stories narrated to them at this time have great impact on the development of their brains. Earlier, we had folk stories for these occasions. Now, as parents are living in a nuclear situation and are generally extremely busy people, most of them do not remember these stories. As such, they are not able to make best use of these occasions. There is an urgent need to collect such stories or to write new stories and supply them to young couples.

Shampa learns Hanuman Chalisa at 3 years

Shampa was born in a middle class family. When she was a child of 3 years, her mother Sharda Sinha, a teacher educator, used to sing Hanuman Chalisa (40 couplets in the praise of Lord Hanuman), when she went to sleep. She used to start singing, when she was going to sleep and continued till she was fast asleep. As a result, Shampa learnt Hanuman Chalisa by heart, even at the age of 2 years, which is a commendable feat for any child. Today Shampa is a teacher at Teacher’s Training College, Patna. She feels that such techniques used by her mother had a great impact on her life.

Many parents have observed that if such stories are narrated to children before they go for sleep and is continued for some time while the child is half-asleep, it would have very good impact on the development of child. Children’s minds are free from distraction and are quite receptive at this time, so the messages and values imparted at this time become their life time values.

We had a very good tradition of early morning songs called ‘ Parati.’ Even now we can find people singing such songs in villages after they get up from bed. Parents can use these early morning interactions to teach various lessons useful for the child at school. They can also narrate value-loaded stories. Such values have been found to have life long impact on children.

Sing songs in the name of the child

Prabhat Ranjan was born in a middle class family. His grand mother also lived with him. He slept with his grand mother in early childhood. She used to create songs in his name by changing the name of the main character in the song. This way, he learnt the art of making mental images, which helped him in developing a very good memory. He enjoyed it a lot. He also started creating such songs and in the process learnt the art of innovation. Today, Prabhat Ranjan is a leading physicist and Nuclear Scientist. He feels that foundation of creativity was laid in him through such bedside songs and stories. He used to keep his eyes closed and listened to his grandmother patiently. He still remembers a song after 37 years.

In turn, when Ranjan used to sing, he used to say
Tutal phatal ghar chhalai ohi men chhalai bhit
Ham Maan sutal chhaliye machhar gave geet.

Tanatan uthe geet

Recently I found the same technique being used in an internet programme in which the name of the child was substituted in place of the hero in a story. This helps the child in establishing proper emotional relationship with the key message of the story and creating long lasting impact on their behaviour.

Such interactions, if properly designed, may prove to be a good visualisation exercise and would be helpful in development of intrapersonal intelligence. As a matter of fact, stories with pictorial descriptions and logical sequences coupled with rhythmic intonation could be of great help in such situation. Since children keep their eyes closed or do not have much distraction, they start making mental pictures. This process of making mental pictures is of great help in the development of memory and logical thinking.

Learn the art of mental image-making in bed

Vishwendra Kumar Sinha, came from a rural family. His father was a teacher. He was an early riser. After he used to wake up, he used to go to their children in their quilt. It was period of lively interaction. He remembers that during this period his father used to teach them Grammar and Science, mentally. This had great impact on his mental development. Today, he is a leading orthopaedic Surgeon.

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/interact-with-children-during-bedtime/feed/0Develop family as the first schoolhttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/develop-family-as-the-first-school/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/develop-family-as-the-first-school/#commentsSun, 19 Apr 2009 09:26:03 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=347(Excerpt from the book Creative Learning by Vijoy Prakash)

Family is said to be the first school, but we have done little to develop it as the first school. Swami Dayanand had identified father, mother and teacher to be the three pillars of education of a child. In Satpatha Brahman it was said,

matriman pitrimanaachryavan purusho ved(A man is knowledgeable, if he is under the guidance of learned mother, father, and teacher.)

Unless all pillars are equally strong, the child cannot be said to be properly educated. Today couples get married. They also have children. But, they are never trained in the methods of rearing the children. They are never told how they should steer the child in the elementary stages of learning. It has now been established that about 90% of the development of brain take place before the end of 5 years. Since couples do not know how to take care of the child, they depend mainly upon hit and trial methods. Thus, children may not attain full development of brain as per their own potential. As such, they are not fully prepared to take advantage of the learning system, when they enter the school system.

Traditionally under joint family system, old people used to take care of the siblings. As many families lived together, collective wisdom of the family met this requirement. Even if one of the family members was academically good, s/he used to take care of all children of the family. If one member knew painting, everybody would be initiated into painting. If one were a good storyteller or singer, s/he would keep children engaged in stories and songs. This way, children could learn many things from their family members.

Now in a nuclear family set up, this privilege is not available to a child. Further, parents are not exposed to such learning techniques, which can be helpful in the proper development of the child. If the initial period of life is so important as to cover most of the learning in life, how can it in left to chance? There is an urgent need to develop programmes for training young couples at the time of marriage or immediately thereafter, so that children may get adequate attention and facility for learning right from the time of their birth.

As we have indicated earlier, in our traditional system social festivals like ‘Madhushrawani’ already took care of this aspect, where brides were given training about family life just after marriage. Since these occasions used stories, songs and paintings as the methodology to empower couples to face this new situation, it had better and long lasting impact. These stories are heard by not only young couples, but by all ladies of the village present on the occasion, and so it had larger coverage so far learning is concerned.

There is an urgent need to strengthen such an arrangement. The curriculum, content, etc. of such festivals should be modernised and reformed. People should also be made aware about the importance of such festivals, so that they can make maximum use of them. One of the important features of this festival is that only ladies handle it. If message pertaining to small family norms were spread though such festivals, it would easily be adopted by people.

Similarly, if we can make young couple conversant with the methodology of pre-school learning on such occasions, they might be better prepared to undertake such measures immediately after the birth of a child. Hence, better development of brain of the child can be ensured. These occasions can also be used to make the couple aware of the health concerns of the child.
Schools may also be asked to play an important role in this regard. They can organise

Regular awareness programmes for young couples

Short term courses in
– Pre school learning
– Learning at home during school days
– Problems of adolescent children
– Equipping parents in the art of helping children in studies at home
– Ensuring basic literacy to illiterate parents
– Health concerns of children

Awareness programmes about the importance of traditional learning systems

Workshops for modernisation of traditional learning systems

]]>http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/19/develop-family-as-the-first-school/feed/1Learning through gameshttp://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/17/learning-through-games/
http://vijoyprakash.in/index.php/2009/04/17/learning-through-games/#respondFri, 17 Apr 2009 01:22:36 +0000http://vijoyprakash.in/?p=335The article Learning through games by Vijoy Prakash was published in Student Corner in Jagran Yahoo.

There are many games you play in your due course of activities. But have you ever thought about learning with games?

For example, there are many children love playing cricket.

Is it possible to learn from Cricket? Let us see…

In this game learners are divided into two groups. One group asks questions whereas the other group is supposed to tell the answer. As in cricket the baller is given chance to ask 6 questions in a row. Rules have been framed for getting boundaries and sixes based on the complexities of the problem and nature of answer.

Learning Science

Learning through Games

In this game learners are divided into two groups. One group asks questions whereas the other group is supposed to tell the answer. As in cricket the baller is given chance to ask 6 questions in a row. Rules have been framed for getting boundaries and sixes based on the complexities of the problem and nature of answer. Children enjoy the game and learn the lessons as well. Similarly, children play the game of puzzles as well as carrom. If we improvise the game for learning laws of motion, laws of friction, laws of reflection, chemical combinations etc. it would be much easier to understand.

It can also be used for developing imagination by asking learners to arrange the coins in different shapes and patterns and give them exciting names.

As floor games are quite popular among the village children, they can arrange lot of floor games to learn mathematics, grammar, science and social sciences. In fact, in all classrooms 10X10 squarish pattern can be drawn. In the corridor various patterns 3X3, 4X4, 5X5, 6X6, etc and other geometrical patterns can be displayed.

These activities are new to both teachers and learners, but can be an interesting session of learning.

Developing Innovative skills

A small survey of the games being played by the children indicates that these games can be used for developing creativity and innovative skills.

In a certain School, children were asked to design a game of Ludo for five persons, chess of three persons, carrom of three/five/six persons, a game of carrom in which nobody loses, new ball games, etc. The result was a creative outcome. Children successfully designed a chess as a floor game. In these games they modify the rules to suit the needs of the constraints imposed. In the designing of these games both teachers and learners are asked to participate jointly.

As the games are new to the teachers also, it becomes a learning session for them too. This process have been extended and learners have been asked to design new games for learning their lessons. Learners have designed several card games to learn various lessons taught in the class.

During science exhibitions learners are asked to pick up all local games and the toys they generally play with and then find out the scientific principles involved in them. This way they get used to finding scientific principles involved in the activities of daily life.

Use multi intelligence methods

There is a traditional method of teaching a topic in the schools. For example, learners are asked to memorise multiplication tables or they may be asked to develop tables by simple addition. Multiple intelligence methods gave us the clue that we can develop many new methods for learning tables.

For example, we can develop folk songs to learn tables. We can also use bamboo sticks for learning tables. One can also use floor games for this purpose. We can try to apply learning tables to daily life situations. For examples, it may be used for textile weaving, or sweater designing, etc.

Using multiple intelligence channels help children in learning the art of creation of symbols and patterns, mixing or merger or new symbols and patterns. Generally, children are narrated a story, they are asked to answer simple questions to test their underst-anding. We, however, can decide to do something different.

Suppose, children were narrated stories slowly, they are asked to depict the story in the form of series of small pictures. During the course of conversion of verbal matters into pictorial form, they had to devise several interesting symbolic representations. Learners can look for symbols in their neighbourhood and daily life. This way they can get an insight into creation of new symbols or fiinding new meaning to old symbols.

For example, in one of the stories learners had to depict fight between two people. Some did it as two people taking sticks in their hands, some did it by showing broken chairs, some did it by showing as inverted chairs and so on.

Similarly, once in a school, teacher asked the learners to depict numbers as members of number family. For example, 16 is made up of 8+8, 9+7, 10+6, 11+5, 12+4 and so on. 16 has a number family of 8 and 8, 9 and 7, 10 and 6, etc. They can be shown as number friends to generate the number 16. First of all the teacher asked to find out the number friends. Then asked to find out objects in nature which go together. For example, petals of flower go together, fishes move in water together, leaves on branches go together, and so on. Learners draw the figure of the paired objects and then showed number friends on it.

This whole exercise was to enable learners to appreciate the social interpretation of mathematical operations. When children came out with the final project, generally children showed their number family on a flower pot or on a tree, or flower. But one child showed his numbers in an original way on the eyes of a group of potatoes. This boy picked up the idea at the time of mother slicing potato for preparing vegetable for the family.

Hence, it is clear that working in multiple intelligence scenario helps in development of creative skills of children.